overview

Almond-"family is breaking down, this is a problem. biological ties arent important anymore. this is damaging to society, people are only caring for themselves"

Morgan-"agrees with almond that statistics show some decline and it is harmful to society. more people are cohabiting, which means that they are more likley to split up."

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threats from alternatives to marriage

Chester-"studied young adults from the west EU. they were less likley to marry, because they were waiting longer, which means they are less likley to get divorced. (decline in divorce rates)

even though people are waiting longer to marry, they are still declines in divorce rates which means marriage is still important to most people.

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cohabitation

two people who are living together and are not married.

morgan- this is a worrying trend. marriage is starting to go "out of fashion". not practice for marriage but an excuse for an increase in sexual partners.

chandler-agrees with morgan and doesnt like this either. children who are born into cohabiting families are less likley to get married themselves.

criticisims-studies from the 1700's suggest that a quater of families back then were cohabiting. this means that cohabitation is not modern.

Barlow et al-British Social Attitudes Survey. it is becoming more acceptable to have children out of wedlock. 54% of people thought that it was acceptable. this was higher amongst younger/teenage groups. 73% of people still thought that marriage is the ideal outcome.